Be my valentine
by Bent Rose Standing Tall
Summary: It's Valentine's Day in the delta quadrant and seven has her eye on somebody. But can she be convinced to take the chance and show her affection. And how will the object of that affection respond. This is complete I think but if people think I should continue let me know in a review and I will see what I can do.
1. Chapter 1

It was a quiet day in the delta quadrant and B'Elanna Torres and seven of nine were almost at the end of an afternoon shift in engineering.

they had spent the day working to repair damage to the ship caused by their latest skirmish with hostile natives. once again they had inadvertently strayed into somebody's territory and encountered natives with a shoot first and ask questions later philosophy. Fortunately although voyager had been outnumbered; set upon by a mid sized fleet, the ships had been small with basic weapons. Voyager still suffered substantial damage before they were able to get away but they did once again get away intact. Repair teams had already repaired the weapons and the shield array, fixed countless secondary systems all over the ship and totally rebuilt the deflector. Now seven and B'Elanna were on to the last and biggest job; fixing the electronics of the warp core to bring it back to full functionality. They were onto the last bit which found them laying underneath the warp core repairing a coupling. They were almost finished when seven spoke

"Do you and lieutenant Paris have any plans for Valentine's Day tomorrow"

"Yeah actually we do. We've got the afternoon off and Tom has booked us some holodeck time"

"That sounds very enjoyable. What program are you going to run"

"I don't know. it's a new one that Tom had written but he won't tell me anything about it, he says it is a surprise"

"Interesting, well I hope that you enjoy your day"

"Thank you"

"How about you seven. do you have any Valentine's Day plans?"

"No. I do not have any romantic endeavours currently in progress. the doctor has been encouraging me to date and I did have one date however it did not go so well"

"Yeah I heard about that"

"You did?"

"Yes in fact I think the whole ship heard about it"

"That is unfortunate but not entirely unexpected, information does tend to spread quite quickly on a ship this size, thankfully lieutenant chapman has not held a grudge"

B'Elanna smiled slightly

"I am sorry it didn't work out for the two of you"

"I am not"

You're not?"

"No. The doctor helped me choose him as a potential mate but I do not have any real romantic interest in him"

"Oh"

B'Elanna paused

"Have you considered going on a date with someone else"

"The doctor suggested it and I did give it some thought however I decided against the idea"

"But why? after all one failed date doesn't mean that you should give up on romance completely,"

"After chapman I realised that I had to chose a prospective mate based on emotion as well as empirical compatibility data. using this new criteria I could not find a suitable candidate for a date"

"There must be somebody on board worthy of one date, and Valentine's Day is a perfect time for a fresh start. Isn't there anybody on board you could ask on a Valentine's date"

"Unfortunately not"

"The isn't anybody at all on the whole ship that you have any interest in?"

"There is nobody on board with whom I foresee the possibility of a relationship"

"That didn't answer my question" B'Elanna's intuition flickered "there is somebody you like isn't there"

Seven could see no point in lying B'Elanna was stubborn once she had worked something out and would therefore be likely to harass seven until she admitted it

"There is somebody on board whom I have feelings for. However a relationship with them would be impossible"

"Why." B'Elanna demanded

"Because they are unwilling to consider the possibility of having a relationship with any member of the crew."

"I'm sure they could be convinced"

"They could not"

B'Elanna tried a different approach

"Who is it"

Seven paused

"I do not wish to give that information."

"Come on seven. Give me a hint at least."

"No"

"Ok then. But whoever they are my opinion still stands. Humans always have the capacity for change. Especially a change of mind or opinion. You should at least ask them on a date"

"Inviting them to participate in any sort of romantic endeavour would not be wise"

"Why not"

"Because they are a very great friend And i do not intend to take the risk of destroying the friendship and respect we share by displaying a desire for a romantic partnership which I am certain that they do not return"

B'Elanna paused for a moment while she worked out what seven had said

"Well I can see your point I suppose. But I'm not certain that I agree, good things always involve risk and the great things are usually worth the risk".

"That is a baseless statement. There is no empirical evidence to suggest that risk is directly proportional to potential gain"

"I can see that I'm not going to change Your mind. Ah well. we are just about done under here I think"

B'Elanna glanced at her watch.

"Crikey seven it's ten to eight. I Gotta get out from under this warp core and get to the mess hall Nelix and Chacotay's flower seminar is about to start and I promised Tom I'd go along"

Seven and B'Elanna scrambled out from under the core stood up and straightened their clothes

"If you do not object I will walk to the mess hall with you"

stated seven

B'Elanna turned to look at seven wearing an expression of surprise

"You're coming to the flower seminar? I wouldn't have thought it would be something you were interested in"

Seven wiped her hands and the two of them headed out of engineering as seven replied.

"On the contrary, the custom of assigning meanings to various plant species as away of subtly passing on a message is a fascinating subject. And according to the captain Chacotay's talk on the various romantic messages that can be imparted by specimens of earth foliage promises to be very interesting" seven paused

"also the captain herself is going and she personally asked me to come"

B'Elanna noticed a flicker of emotion pass across sevens face and something clicked. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the corridor and grabbed sevens arm pulling her to a standstill as well. seven looked at B'Elanna questioningly

"Why did you feel it necessary to yank me in such a manner"

"It's the Captain that you've fallen for isn't it"

Once again seven saw no point in lying

"It is. How did you realise"

"Well for a start I could count the number of people you consider a great friend on one hand. Which makes that list of candidates a short one, of that list the Captain is certainly the person you're closest too.

second I know you pretty well and I saw something in your face when you said that the captain had invited you tonight."

Seven sighed

"you are correct. Perhaps Now you see why I cannot take the risk of telling her of my feelings"

"On the contrary. If anybody could cope delicately with having romantic affection directed towards them returned or unreturned it's the Captian. You can't lose."

Seven looked at her sceptically "please elaborate"

"Seriously seven. Either she returns your affection or she doesn't, if she does you are certainly the person who could convince her to give up her qualms with dating a crew member, in which case you win or if she doesn't return your feelings she would politely tell u as much and you stay the best of friends Same as you are now."

"If she does not return my feelings which I am certain is the case then telling her would almost certainly jeopardise our friendship"

"No it wouldn't seven The Captain isn't the sort of person that would break off a friendship for something like you having feelings for her. At worst it would make things awkward for a few days or weeks. Trust me No matter how she feels you won't lose your friend, but you might gain a whole lot more"

"Whilst you make a convincing argument and the possibility of a relationship with the captain is indeed tempting I'm am still not convinced that displaying how I feel to the captain would be wise."

B'Elanna growled. "Your as stubborn and she is seven."

"That is not a bad thing"

"Perhaps not. But I still say you should take the chance. If you don't want to talk to her openly face to face Then do it subtly"

"how would I go about achieving that".

"give her a gift, something handmade. make her something that shows emotion. Something to Give her a sign a hint of how you feel. Do it anonymously but leave enough clues so that she can figure out it came from you and see if she responds. If she doesn't then you know that she isn't interested, but She can pretend she didn't figure it out and you can both carry on as if nothing happened. If she responds you know that she is interested and you can both take it from there."

"That certainly sounds like a possible solution to the matter"

"Did You know that that sort of anonymous exchange has been a central part of Valentine's Day from the beginning"

"I did not. I find that I like the idea of attempting to engage the captain in a relationship however at this point the risk still seems preventatively high, However I will do some research and give the matter further thought"

"Good you do that and I hope you decide to do something about it"

B'Elanna smiled at her friend and seven smiled slightly in return. And they started walking again somewhat faster than before.

"For now though if we don't hurry we will be late getting to the mess hall."


	2. Chapter 2

"Well that concludes my wander into the flower gardens of earth. I have created an info sheet with the basic meanings of all the flowers I have discussed tonight which is available on the ships database and all of the flower species are currently being grown by Nelix"

Nelix stood up " yes All the flowers shown and talked about tonight are available in the hydroponics bay. Anybody who wants some can pop in and help themselves I just have one little request. with the exception of the roses which I have several dozen plants worth of if you want more than three of any particular bloom please have a quick word with me. I have been growing as many as I can but the supplies are still fairly limited thankyou"

Nelix sat down and Chakottay stood back up.

"Thankyou Nelix. I hope you all found our seminar entertaining and informative and Thank you all for coming this evening from both of us. have a good night."

Chakotay and Nelix left the stage to a hearty round of applause and the group gathered in the mess hall began to disperse. Captain Janeway turned to seven who was seated beside her

"Well seven what did you think"

"It was fascinating. Nelix is certainly very knowledgeable about the cultivation of these plant species and Chakotay's knowledge of their meaning and significance is impressive"

"It certainly is, Chakotay grey up in a tribal colony and learnt a great deal about nature and plants from his family. I find the things he know to be very interesting. And the amount Nelix has tight himself about cultivation of alpha quadrant plants is simply astounding. But aside from their knowledgeability what did you think of the content of the seminar?"

" i I had no idea that flowers could be more than just a thing to admire. The idea of them passing on messages is intriguing. I also had no idea that flowers meant so much to humans."

". I'm not sure how flowers came to have meanings originally but they have been used as a way to pass messages both obviously and secretly for thousands of years.

Personally I love being given flowers. They are beautiful and remarkable. They say a lot when a person doesn't know how to put their feelings into words."

"That is intriguing." Seven looked at the time "perhaps we could discuss the merits of flowers both as decoration and messengers in more depth at some point, however for now if you will excuse me I need to return to the cargo bay"

"Alright seven. Have a good night"

"Thank you captain you as well"

Seven left the mess hall and made her way back to the cargo bay where she decided to act on B'Elanna's advice immediately. she went straight to her console and began to research every aspect of Valentine's Day that she could think of.

After learning everything she could about the holiday itself seven turned her thoughts in the direction of trying to figure out what to do for Kathryn. B'Elanna had suggested giving the Captain something personal and subtle yet decipherable that it came from her.

After some thought Seven returned her attention to her console and began to research traditional Valentine's Day gifts.

After an hour seven had not made any progress. For the first time in her life as a human research had failed to yield any usable results. Seven decided that perhaps a more personal form of research was in order. She began to scan her Borg memory of all interactions with the captain in the hope that she might find a clue of what the captain might wish for a gift. After only a few seconds the words that the captain had spoken just a few hours ago came to her mind.

" ". I love being given flowers. They are beautiful and remarkable. They say a lot when a person doesn't know how to put their feelings into words." "

Seven decided that flowers seemed an appropriate place to start. However now she was unsure of which flowers would be most suitable. After a few moments consideration She decided the best thing to do would be to go and have a look around nelix's supplies in the hydroponic bay.

On the way to the hydroponic bay seven met Naomi wildman exiting a turbo lift. Seven was surprised and slightly concerned to see the young girl out of her bed and her quarters so late in the evening.

"Good evening Naomi, it's very late at night for you to be out of your bed is somthing wrong."

"Oh hello seven no everything is fine, I'm out late because I had to wait for my mummy to fall asleep before I snuck out"

"But Why are you sneaking out at all, that is not your usual behaviour"

"I know but I have to pick something up from the hydroponics bay and I don't want my mummy to know anything about it. Do you know about my mummy and daddy using the satellite connection to have a day together tomorrow?"

"Yes I have been fully briefed on the plan to surprise your mother. I am part of the team working on the project. I will be in charge relaying the signals through the astrometric bay to and from our holodeck tomorrow and ensuring that the connection is stable."

"Cool. I suppose I should have guessed you were involved being in charge of astrometrics and all. Thank you seven, I'm really grateful for all the effort so many people are putting in to make this happen for my parents."

"You are welcome Naomi. However we have changed topic. We were discussing your reasons for being out or your bed at this hour. What is it you are picking up"

"Well my daddy always gave my mummy these special katarian flowers on Valentine's Day and my mummy told me about them last year and she still had some seeds, so I asked her if I could have some of the seeds to study and she gave me half of them, I worked out that they were viable so I took the seeds to Nelix and he has been able to grow them. I am on my way to pick up the flowers then I am going to take them to the holodeck just before my mummy comes so that daddy can give them to her again."

"That's very thoughtful Naomi. I am sure that your mother will be very pleased. However what if she wakes up and sees that you are missing."

"I've left a note on my bed saying that I'm ok and I've gone to pick up a surprise. I hope she doesn't wake up and see it but if she does at least she won't worry"

"You are very sensible for a child of your age"

"Thankyou seven, by the way where are you going this time of night. Shouldn't you be regenerateing"

"I only have to regenerate one night out of three. I am also on my way to the hydroponics bay. If you would like We could walk there together."

"Ok then"

Naomi put her little hand in sevens larger one and they both set off together. After a while of companionable silence Naomi spoke again

"Seven why are you going to the hydroponics bay."

"I am seeking a Valentine's gift for somebody to attempt to indicate my affection."

"You have a crush on somebody on the ship?"

"I suppose you could put it that way yes. I was hesitant about displaying my affection due to the fact that I do not belive that it will be returned however it was suggested to me that Valentine's Day would be a good time to give a gift and "see what happens"."

"You have a very good friend then seven. I always say if you never try you never get."

"Indeed. I have however been having difficulty selecting a gift that will be both personal and appreciated and my research failed to yield any usable results. After some thought I have decided that flowers are a good place to start"

"Flowers are always a good gift for lots of different situations. What flowers are you going to choose"

"I have not solved that problem yet."

Naomi gave seven a confused look and seven rephrased

"I don't know"

"Did you go to the flower seminar earlier this evening?"

"Yes"

"Well why don't you think about what you want to say to this person what feelings you want to display and use the information from the seminar to choose flowers that mean what you want to say."

"That is a brilliant idea Naomi. I have the entire seminar stored in my Borg memory I should be able to use it to select appropriate floral species. Thank you"

"Your welcome" Naomi laughed."do you need any more good ideas"

Seven looked at the girl closely before replying

"Perhaps. I am still unable to think of anything suitable for a second gift. I was advised to create something but everything that I can think of that would be both appreciated and within my skill set would either take to long or we lack the required materials."

"A Valentine's gift hand made in just a few hours. Hmmm How about a poem"

"A poem?!"

"Yes you could write them a poem. It would give you the opportunity to say how you feel and what you think of this person you could even put in a clue so they can figure out its from you if you don't feel able to give them the gifts directly."

"That is an idea worthy of research"

"You can't research your way into writing a poem seven. It has to come from the heart. You helped me with my poetry and creative writing homework a few months ago so you know the basics of writing. Just stand at your console think about this person and see what comes."

"I will try that. Thank you again Naomi you have been a great help."

"You're welcome seven".

They had arrived at the hydroponics bay now and Naomi skipped off to the little side room where Nelix had been growing Naomi's flowers in secret and seven started to walk around. She went slowly around all the different flowers and as she went compared each species to the information in Chakotay's seminar she paused several times choosing blooms that best fit the feelings she wished to impart. by the time she had completed a full circuit of the bay she had a Bouquet made up of three of each of 9 different flowers and a tenth flower for a little idea that had just occurred to her.

Seven spent the walk back to the cargo bay considering different methods of delivering the gifts. She wanted to do something interesting but not so outlandish that it would disrupt the captains duty shift. And she wanted to deliver the gifts in the morning but she needed to plan it for after the bridge had finished setting up the holodeck for the wildman family. By the time she reached the cargo bay she had several good ideas and now just needed to select one.

She replicated a vase with water and was about to place the flowers inside when another idea occurred to her. Looking at the clock she decided that she had time for her latest idea as well as writing the poem. she placed the flowers in the vase in her hand and put it to one side then replicated another plain un-glazed vase and a set of paints and brushes. Taking it all over to her work station seven set to work painting the vase, after finishing painting the design she decided to add a short sentence. Seven didn't usually use metaphors or sentiment but in this case it seemed appropriate, after some thought seven decided on a sentence that seemed fitting and painted it in around the neck. Taking the finished vase back to the replicator she reprogramed the machine to dry the paint and glaze the vase. After that had been done seven moved the water and flowers to the new vase arranging them carefully and recycled the old one. Satisfied with the flowers seven put them to one side returned to her computer screen and turned her attention to writing a poem.

By 4am seven had written and edited a poem that she was happy with. She thought that most people would not consider it a particularly romantic poem it was quite direct and to the point much like seven herself. nor would most people understand why she had included certain things, However the captain wasn't most people and as such seven was confident that she would understand and appreciate it.

All that was left now was to make a final decision on the delivery method and set it up. By 7am everything was in place and seven of nine headed to astrometrics to begin her duty shift


	3. Chapter 3

AN This is the last chapter (I think) there are references in the 2nd and 3rd chapters to a mission involving the wildman family. If you want to know more about it there will be a full story all about it at some point. For now all I will say is that little Naomi figures out how to get her parents together for Valentine's Day.

Captain Katherine Janeway of the starship voyager left her quarters and walked towards the turbo lift . It was the beginning of the Alpha shift on Valentine's Day and Her mind was filled with the potentially complicated task of establishing a stable two way holographic connection with the Alpha quadrant. The Holodeck program and the high capacity holographic transmission system they would be using were both newly developed especially for this mission and as such they had not been used before. Despite the heavy testing that they had been put through there was still the possibility that one or both of them could have unseen flaws.

Janeway paused at the doors of the turbo lift as she waited for them to open. when they did she entered to find Be'Elana Tores already inside.

"Good morning captain" Be'Lana greeted warmly

"Good morning Be'Elana."

The captain got straight to business

"there is no morning briefing today so can you catch me up to speed on your preparations please. is engineering prepared for the additional power drain from the holodeck and deflector array today"

"Yes captain. The Dilithium we mined specially last stop has been brought out of storage and taken to ore processing. the additional power will be funnelled through the back up conduits so as not to effect primary systems I've got all of that set up and ready to go. I've also got a monitoring program set up at one of the stations in engineering to keep an eye on the holodeck and deflector array and I've assigned someone to watch it. I'm on my way to the bridge to patch the engineering console into the monitoring system so that you will know immediately on the bridge if anything goes wrong."

"Very good. As soon as seven is ready I think we are good to go"

The turbo lift came to a halt and the two women stepped out onto the bridge. The rest of the alpha shift bridge crew were already in their stations. Be'Elana strode to the engineering console and set to work. Janeway walked to her command chair and sat down.

"Report"

The crew knew which order the captain wanted the reports by heart so no further prompting was necessary.

"Navigation and propulsion are functioning normally. There is Nothing of note in the immediate area and we are maintaining a course for the alpha quadrant" said Tom Paris from the helm.

"Nothing to report from security" said Tuvok

"Nothing to report from tactical" said Harry Kim

"Gamma shift reports a peaceful night. The only thing of note was that voyager passed through a particularly beautiful nebula about zero two hundred. recordings and sensor data were taken for astrometrics" said Chakotay"

"Very good" replied the captain to them all, she turned towards the helm.

"Tom bring astrometrics up on half of the view screen please."

"Yes captain"

Tom pressed a few buttons on his console and seven of nine appeared on the left side of the main view screen.

"Good morning seven, are astrometrics and the holodeck ready for this mornings mission"

"They are captain the holodeck is online and running mr paris's program. And I have the transmission program developed by commander data loaded and active on my main console."

"Very good. And what is our status on initiating contact with the alpha quadrant"

"We are coming into range of the communications satellite now "

"Excellent. Connect to the satellite and hail the enterprise."

An hour later the mission set up was over and all that remained was for Be'Elana's staff member to keep an eye on the engineering monitoring program and for tal celes to keep an eye on the astrometrics monitoring program.

Back on the bridge captain Janeway relaxed back into her seat and addressed the commander seated beside her

"Well that went splendidly I just hope we don't get any hiccups throughout the day. The wildmans deserve this opportunity"

"They certainly do captain."

Leaning back in her chair Kathrine decided that As there was nothing else to do on the bridge that warranted her presence she would go and handle some reports that were waiting for her in her ready room. She stood up addressing the commander as she did so

"You have the bridge commander I will be in my ready room"

"Very well Captian"

Janeway crossed the bridge and entered her ready room as she went the turbo lift doors opened and seven of nine entered the bridge, crossing to the astrometrics console she pulled up some charts that she had been woking on and continued where she had left off.

In the ready room the doors has just swished closed behind the captain when a transporter beam came to life directly I front of her and a vase of flowers appeared suspended in mid air at chest height. The captain Stopped short in front of them and reached out. As she took the vase the beam that had been supporting it faded away. The thing that first caught Kathrine's attention was not the flowers but the vase. It was clearly hand painted but expertly so. The vase was a deep blackish r blue with an intricate and beautiful nebula painted all the way round the vase. At the front an amazingly detailed rendition of voyager was emerging from the nebula. The more the captain looked at the vase and turned it in her hands the more she saw. Small scenes were painted all over the vase amongst the lights and clouds of the nebula; voyager landed on he planner of the 69ers with the captain waving goodbye to them as the left to start their new lives. The doctor on his first land mission taking pictures like an overly exited puppy. The mess hall filled with happy crew during one of nelix's impromptu parties. The wedding of Be'Elana Tores and Tom Paris. New earth with the shelter and the captain and commander. And then new earth with voyager flying away and just a federation flag left behind. There were even a few humorous depictions. Be'Elana and Vorik fighting after they had both been affected by the pin far. Tom Paris breaking the warp ten barrier and the creature he turned into afterwards. There was even a depiction of the devolved Tom and katrine with their "children". then there was The brigde with the bridge crew at their stations. Main engineering with its crew members busy at work. The infirmary with the doctor sitting at his desk and kes near one of the biobeds. And finally winding its way around the vase just below the neck was some beautifully gold lettering. Kathrine read it slowly.

FOR THE WOMAN WHO HAS STARDUST IN HER HEART, AND IS THE HEART OF OUR FAMILY.

Captain Janeway was utterly taken aback and very touched. Somebody had clearly gone to a lot of effort to give this gift. After having another look at the vase Janeway finally turned her attention to the flowers it held. It was a gorgeous multicoloured Bouquet of very varied flowers the captain studied the appreciatively for several minutes then brought them closer to her face and sniffed. and the scent coming from them was incredible. Kathrine could see that a lot of care had gone into the arranging of the flowers and she began to wonder if perhaps they had been selected as carefully especially considering the flower seminar from the previous evening.

Kathrine was half way to the computer at her desk planning to look up the flower meanings info sheet wham she remembered that its author was sitting just a few yards away.

She paused for a moment deciding wether to take the flowers to the bridge or to call Chakotay into her ready room. They are just flowers she thought to herself it wouldn't do any harm to allow the bridge crew to see she had received them turning she headed back to the bridge

"Back already captain" Tom joked as he heard the ready room doors open

"Yes" she replied. "Just seeking some insight from the commander here"

To turned his chair and spotted the flowers

"Wow who are they from"

"I have absolutely no idea." She sat back in her chair and addressed the commander

"I was hoping that you could tell me what these flowers mean"

Chakotay looked over the flowers for a moment and then looked at the captain

"I can captain but you might prefer to discuss it in Your ready room"

"Why is that"

"These flowers appear to be from an admirer" he said simply.

"I am sure that it will be fine to tell me what they mean here"

"Very well"

He looked over the flowers deciding where to start. Then pointing to each of the differed t blooms in turn he explained their meanings

"This one is a white camellia it signifies that the sender has great admiration for the recipient, the two tulips; this variegated one means you have beautiful eyes, this yellow one means there is sunshine in your smile, and this is a calla lily which means magnificent beauty

Janeway had begun to blush and noticing it chakotay paused.

"You may have been right about relocating the explanation" she admitted " but You may as well continue now you have begun"

"Very well. The dandelion is an odd addition to a formal Bouquet but it certainly fits the overall sentiment here it indicated faithfulness and this blue violet means; I will always be true." He looked up to check that the captain was still on and she nodded for him to continue although her blush was deepening.

"These last three, this one is an acacia it signifies the presence of a concealed love this daisy signifies the presesce of a loyal love, finally this is a red camellia and it means; you are a flame in my heart" finishing the explanation he fell silent

Tuvok was currently the only person working. Tom harry and Be'Lana were openly staring at the captain waiting for a response and seven was doing her best to appear to be working but was actually watching the captain out of the corner of her eye.

Chakotay looked up from the flowers to find that the captain was now roughly the colour of a beetroot.

"Thank you for that commander I see what you mean about my having an admirer" she managed to choke out. Tom chuckled.

Kathrine turned back to the flowers she placed them on the small desk between the two command chairs and twisted in her seat so thatcher could look at them.

"I had no idea anybody on the ship felt that way I wonder who they are from" she mused quietly to herself. She knew who she wanted them to be from but it was impossible that they were from that person. the person the captain had feelings for would never do something like this.

Her whistfull thoughts were disrupted when tuvok spoke.

"If you wish I can look into who sent you the flowers"

Seven stiffened

"No that will not be necessary. I do not believe that this is a matter worthy of ship security involvement.

Janeway turned back to the flowers but was disturbed by the computer

"Computer to the captain"

"Captain here,"

"You have a message set to be delivered to you at this time in your ready room however you are not in that location. How do you wish to proceed"

"What is the message about and who from"

"It is an audio missive, recorded using a hologram voice consisting of several verses of prose, it is labeled as a Valentine's present. there is no record of the sender"

"Hold computer"

"Acknowledged"

Janeway turned to Be'Lana

"I didn't tho I that the computer was designed to deliver messages in this manner"

"It isn't captain" Be'Lana replies "I have a feeling that this message is from the same person as those flowers. They must have reprogrammed the computer to act as an anonymous delivery system."

"I didn't know that was possible"

"It isn't" Be'Lana paused as it occurred to her that the only way to achieve this kind of reprogramming would be by using Borg technology to partially assimilate the computer, suddenly she knew exactly who was behind all of this glancing Discretely across the bridge she saw seven staring at her intently. She quickly back-peddled "at least it isn't possible for anyone without an in depth knowledge of the system. There are a handful of people aboard who could do it"

"Thank you lieutenant"

Janeway turned back to sit straight in her seat and addressed the computer

"Janeway to computer. Please scan the audio recording and check for anything obscene"

"Scanning. Nothing incense detected"

By now everybody including seven and tuvok were watching Janeway. She briefly considered relocating to her ready room to hear the message but at his poit that would just cause more roumwrs than listening to it in the bridge

"Very well play the recording"

A generic yet pleasant human sounding voice began to speak

.

This poem is entitled

The Delta

And is dedicated to Captain Kathrine Janeway

.

We are stranded out here in the delta.

Thousands of light years from home.

Just one little ship on a mission.

With you at the head all alone.

.

You are lonely but think you deserve it.

You think it's your fault that we're stuck.

But we all say your actions were noble

And correct. Being here's just bad luck

.

Though you've taught me so much since I've known you

In one thing I was right all along

Humans aren't meant to live solo

We in teams and in families belong

.

I am glad your ship came to the Delta

I am glad it was you at the head

No one else would have seen through the metal

No one else would have made me a friend

.

Now the rules have already been broken

And the precedent has already been set

So that now I have but one question

Are you ready to stop being alone yet?

.

The audio playback ceased and left complete silence on the bridge. Tuvok Be'Lana Tom and Chakotay were all stunned into silence by the poem although none except Be'Lana had figured out the identity of the sender. Seven was openly staring at the captain waiting for a response and the captain was siting frozen.

The poem had made it quite clear to her who had sent her the gifts but she could still hardly belive that it was possible. She had never seen and single hint that her feelings were returned.

She was still getting her head round it all when a transporter beam activated and deposited a single flower on her lap tied Roth a red ribbon.

Silently she picked it up looked at it for a moment and turned to face Chakotay. Guessing what she wanted he spoke

"That's a white violet. And it means quite simply let's take a chance on happiness"

He smiled gently at her and she realised what a fool she had been for resisting the idea of a relationship it would t make her any weaker a captain nor would it weaken the crew. Silently she stood up walked to the upper level and stopped fave to face with seven. Handing her the flower she said simply

"Yes"

Seven's face broke into a huge smile and Kathrine's mirrored it she wrapped the taller woman in a hug and gently kissed her. Caught up in an endless moment they just barely heard the bridge crew erupt into applause

The end?


End file.
